SAN DIEGO WRITEWAY CALENDAR OF EVENTS: MAY 13-20

May 15, 2012 (San Diego) -- San Diego Public Library continues the downtown verse poetry & spoken word program for May. Greek Drama, Hawaiian Poetry, San Diego State University Students are featured in May. The next featured performances are:

Monday, May 21 — Part of One Book, One San Diego, native Hawaiian poet Keoni Cabral.

All performances begin at 4:00 pm in the Lobby of the Central Library located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego. These events are free and open to the public.

Professor Hashmi is an award-winning poet and writer-in-residence at San Diego State University’s Creative Writing program, ranked as a top ten creative writing program by U.S. News and World Report. The Creative Writing Program publishes three scholarly journals and supports MFA students in in-depth study of their chosen genre, fiction or poetry. Professor Hashmi’s students will perform their current work.

Mr. Miner will present a live Greek Drama and Poetry Performance in Ancient Greek and English featuring excerpts from Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis, which tells the gut-wrenching story of King Agamemnon, fatefully convinced that military victory in the Trojan War can only be achieved if he sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to the gods.

Keoni Cabral weaves his experiences growing up in Hawaii into his original spoken word poetry. Pockets of Paradise is a collection of pieces which he describes as a stream of readings and discussion peeking into the beauty of modern day, diversity rich Hawaii while exploring some of its more complex and occasionally darker, lesser known hues. He’s the volunteer manager at KPBS and dabbles in photography, creative writing and abstract painting.

Downtown Verse will spotlight the poetry and spoken word scene in San Diego and feature area poets and spoken word artists on an occasional basis. Learn about this and other events at the San Diego Public Library’s Central Library and 35 branches, find links to numerous additional resources (including those for local authors), or search for materials online in the Library’s catalog atwww.sandiegolibrary.org.

Calendar

May 16 (Wednesday, 4:00 pm) — Warwick's will host New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry, who will discuss and sign his newest book The Columbus Affair. This event is free and open to the public. Reserved seating is available, please contact the Warwick's Book Dept. (858) 454-0347 for more information. Only books purchased from Warwick's will be signed.

Background: He was called by many names--Columb, Colom, Colon--but we know him as Christopher Columbus. Many questions about him exist: Where was he born, raised, and educated? Where did he die? How did he discover the New World? None have ever been properly answered. And then there is the greatest secret of all. From Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author, comes an exciting new adventure, one that challenges everything we thought we knew about the discovery of America.

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Tom Sagan has written hard-hitting articles from hot spots around the world. But when a controversial report from a war-torn region is exposed as a fraud, his professional reputation crashes and burns. Now he lives in virtual exile--haunted by bad decisions and the shocking truth he can never prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy. But before Sagan can end his torment with the squeeze of a trigger, fate intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger with a request that cannot be ignored. Zachariah Simon has the look of a scholar, the soul of a scoundrel, and the zeal of a fanatic. He also has Tom Sagan's estranged daughter at his mercy. Simon desperately wants something only Sagan can supply: the key to a 500-year-old mystery, a treasure with explosive political significance in the modern world. For both Simon and Sagan the stakes are high, the goal intensely personal, the consequences of opposing either man potentially catastrophic. On a perilous quest from Florida to Vienna to Prague and finally to the mountains of Jamaica, the two men square off in a dangerous game. Along the way, both of their lives will be altered and everything we know about Christopher Columbus will change.
Warwick's Books, 7812 Girard Avenue | La Jolla, Ca | 92037 | Ph. (858) 454-0347 | www.warwicks.com.

May 16 (Wednesday, 7:30 pm) — Warwick's will host the New York Times bestselling author of Devil in the White City, Erik Larson, who will discuss and sign In the Garden of Beasts. There will also be a special introduction and presentation by Random House Rep. Wade Lucas, who will present a selection of new and upcoming titles. This event is free and open to the public. Reserved seating is available, please contact the Warwick's book dept. (858) 454-0347 for more information. Only books purchased from Warwick's will be signed.

Background: The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.

A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the "New Germany," she has one affair after another, including with the surprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance, and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler's true character and ruthless ambition.

Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Goring and the expectedly charming, yet wholly sinister Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively readable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.

May 17 (Thursday, 7:30 pm) — Warwick's will host decorated Marine and actor Benjamin Busch, who will discuss and sign his memoir Dust to Dust. This event is free and open to the public, although in order to be signed the book must be purchased from Warwick's.

Background: Dust to Dust is an extraordinary memoir about ordinary things: life and death, peace and war, the adventures of childhood and the revelations of adulthood. Benjamin Busch-a decorated U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer who served two combat tours in Iraq, an actor on The Wire, and the son of celebrated novelist Frederick Busch-has crafted a lasting book to stand with the finest work of Tim O'Brien or Annie Dillard.

In elemental-themed chapters-water, metal, bone, blood-Busch weaves together a vivid record of a pastoral childhood in rural New York; Marine training in North Carolina, Ukraine, and California; and deployment during the worst of the war in Iraq, as seen firsthand. But this is much more than a war memoir. Busch writes with great poignancy about the resonance of a boyhood spent exploring rivers and woods, building forts, and testing the limits of safety. Most of all, he brings enormous emotional power to his reflections on mortality: in a helicopter going down; wounded by shrapnel in Ramadi; dealing with the sudden death of friends in combat and of parents back home.

Dust to Dust is an unforgettable meditation on life and loss, and how the curious children we were remain alive in us all.
Warwick's Books, 7812 Girard Avenue | La Jolla, Ca | 92037 | Ph. (858) 454-0347 | www.warwicks.com.

May 18 (Friday, 7:30 pm) — Warwick's will host the star of radio's Jeff & Jer Showgram, Jerry Cesak, who will discuss and sign his book My Personal Panther. There will also be light refreshments. This is a ticketed signing. Complimentary tickets will be given with the purchase of My Personal Panther from Warwick's. For more information please contact the Warwick's Book Dept. (858) 454-0347.

Background: Jerry Cesak, star of KyXy's Jeff & Jer Showgram will discuss his children's book My Personal Panther, the story of a precocious little girl and her adventurous cat Panther. Jerry will discuss his process, his personal love of animals--including the book's inspirations, cats Lucy and Aja, and will take questions from the audience. This is sure to be an evening of fun for the entire family.
Warwick's Books, 7812 Girard Avenue | La Jolla, Ca | 92037 | Ph. (858) 454-0347 | www.warwicks.com.

May 19 (Saturday, 6:30pm at Point Loma High School, 2335 Chatsworth Blvd., San Diego, Warwick's, Point Loma High School Pointer Association and PLHS Alumni will host the New York Times bestselling author of Sh*t My Dad Says, Justin Halpern, who will discuss and sign his new book I Suck at Girls. This event is free and open to the public. Reserved seating is available, please contact the Warwick's Book Dept. (858) 454-0347 for more information. Only books purchased from Warwick's will be signed.

Background: Fans of the #1 bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says will recognize the always-patient voice of Justin Halpern's dad as it crackles through the pages of this hysterical new book.

I Suck at Girls is full of his dad's patented brand of wisdom, beginning with Justin taking his dad out to lunch to announce that he's decided to propose to his girlfriend, but it's also full of new characters just as funny as his dad-from his brother, who provides insights into wedding night rituals ("You stand in one corner of the room, and she stands in the other. You each take off one piece of clothing at a time") to his first boss, who warns Justin to man up: "That's what a man does. He takes his shots and then he scrubs the sh*t out of some dishes." The result is a pilgrim's progress through the landscape of sex and love-by one of the funniest writers at work today.
Warwick's Books, 7812 Girard Avenue | La Jolla, Ca | 92037 | Ph. (858) 454-0347 | www.warwicks.com.

May 19 (Saturday at 7:00 pm) — UCSD Professor Amelia M. Glaser will read from and discuss her new book Jews and Ukrainians in Russia's Literary Borderlands: From the Shtetl Fair to the Petersburg Bookshop; and will also read selections from her translations from Proletpen: America’s Rebel Yiddish Poets at D.G.Wills Books, 7461 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, 858-456-1800, www.dgwillsbooks.com. Studies of eastern European literature have largely confined themselves to a single language, culture, or nationality.

In this highly original book, Glaser reveals the rich cultural exchange among writers working in Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish in the Ukrainian territories, from Nikolai Gogol’s 1829 The Sorochintsy Fair to Isaac Babel’s stories about the forced collectivization of the Ukrainian countryside in 1929.

The marketplace, which was an important site of interaction among members of these different cultures, emerged in all three languages as a metaphor for the relationship between Ukraine’s coexisting communities, as well as for the relationship between the Ukrainian borderlands and the imperial capital. It is commonplace to note the influence of Gogol on Russian literature, but Glaser shows him to have also been a profound influence on Ukrainian and Yiddish writers, such as Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko and Sholem Aleichem. And she shows how Gogol must be understood not only within the context of his adopted city of St. Petersburg but also that of his native Ukraine.

Amelia M. Glaser received a B.A. from Oberlin College in Comparative Literature in 1997, an MSt. from the University of Oxford in Yiddish in 2000, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Stanford University in 2004. She held fellowships at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and was a lecturer in Jewish Studies and at the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Stanford University before joining UCSD's Literature Department in 2006. Her research and teaching interests include Russian literature and film, transnational Jewish literature, the literatures of Ukraine, the literature of immigration to the US, the Russian critical tradition, and translation theory and practice.

May 16-18 (Wednesday thru Friday) — THE NONFICTION WRITERS CONFERENCE is a VIRTUAL event conducted via teleconference. Topics include traditional and selfpublishing, ebooks, virtual book tours, social media, strategies to sell more books on Amazon, blogging, SEO, professional speaking, and other book marketing tactics. Pull up a seat on your couch and join us as 15 top speakers cover how to publish, promote, and profit with nonfiction books! Details and registration: http://NonfictionWritersConference.com.

May 16-18 (Wed. 5:30 pm to 8 pm) — A foodie fundraiser for the San Diego Council on Literacy.Culinary masters around San Diego have teamed up with the San Diego Council on Literacy to raise funds that support youth success in school and adult literacy. This “Eat. Drink. Read” evening event will showcase chefs from popular San Diego restaurants. Chefs will present a dish inspired by a favorite book.

All chefs will create premium food experiences for guests to enjoy and pair with complimentary wine and beer selections. All proceeds from this event will go towards books, supplies, equipment, and other resources that support the provision of no-cost literacy services to 165,000 children, families, and adults in San Diego County.

May 18 (6:00 to 9:00 pm) — The Press Club 40th Anniversary and kicking off a yearlong celebration with a gala party May 18, 6-9 p.m., at Civita in Mission Valley. Oh! Ridge will entertain with oldies and contemporary tunes, and the party will take over the 10,000-square-foot recreation center at Circa 37, a luxury apartment village at Civita.

In addition to fine food and fine wines, there will be press club memorabilia on display and special acknowledgement of the people who got the club rolling and the next generation who will lead the club for the next 40 years.

The club is assembling an Honorary Committee of past presidents and long-time members and supporters of the Press Club for this event, with all the funds raised by the Honorary Committee going directly to the San Diego Press Club Foundation for journalism scholarships. If you would like to join the Honorary Committee for a $100 donation, contact Terry Williams at (619) 231-4340 or emailsdpressclub@cox.net.
To join the celebration as a committee member or sponsor, contact Barbara Metz, event chair, at (858) 677-0720 ormetzpr@gmail.com.

May 19 (Saturday 10:00am - 2:00pm)
Conversation's Greatest Hits with Tamara Guirado In this fun, high-energy class we will model master inkslingers (like Toni Cade Bambara and Denis Johnson) and learn how to shape original dialogue with subtext.http://www.sandiegowriters.org/?p=3676

May 20 — The Annual Sicilian Cultural Festival will be held in San Diego’s Little Italy on May 20, 2012. At last year’s festival we were able to provide booths for local authors to display and sell their published work. This is a great opportunity for exposure as the one-day festival consistently draws over 100,000 visitors. We are looking for local authors who are interested in selling their books at this year’s event.

This is a great opportunity for exposure – both for local authors, and for event goers who might not have a ready opportunity to learn about the history of San Diego and its diverse cultures. Did I mention “selling books”? It’s a “win-win” for everyone! We ask that the books displayed have some relevance to Italian/Sicilian culture and/or be of local interest. Works may be fiction or non-fiction. In the past we have had books dealing with San Diego’s fishing industry, a chronology of local immigrant families, cook books, and mystery/thrillers set in San Diego. As you can see, we run the gamut of topics and subject matter. We believe in diversity of interest!

The event location runs for five blocks on India Street in Little Italy (from Ash to Grape Streets). “Author’s Row” will located in the Sicilian Cultural Pavilion which will span Date Street between India and Columbia. Participants will be housed in booths and each author will have a six-foot table with two chairs. Entry fee is $100. Book sales are the sole responsibility of the participant.
For more information regarding the event, please go to:http://www.sicilianfesta.com/ Interested authors may contact Marcia Buompensiero at lonzahn2@cox.net for more information about participating in this event.